Dear Editor,
Social media may seem like a blessing to mankind, but it can also be a nuisance and an instrument of great terror. I am writing this letter to express my concern in relation to certain evil-minded individuals who use this platform to promote animosity and spread fear so as to potentially establish civil unrest or war in our country.
In Guyana, we have seen people being incited by social media to hurt fellow Guyanese, and even to destroy public property. We saw a certain Opposition lawyer who, via social media, encouraged people to do bad things while he remained safe and secure behind closed doors in his palace. While most are ignoring his calls and staying in their homes, he is putting the lives of others at risk. Little do those people know that he is only causing them to accumulate criminal records with possible imprisonment.
I would like to point out that Guyana was in such peace and calm before the elections, and even immediately after the elections of March 2nd, 2020, our citizens were cooperative, respectful, and helpful. In the nation, there was no tension. Our people were in a state of unity, harmony, tolerance, and reverence, but after March 4th, 2020, misery descended on the nation, with fear and hatred spreading like a wildfire trapped in a dry forest. Some people started using the medium of social media to make derogatory statements, using the nastiest of words to describe members of another race. They even went so far as to abuse the reproductive parts of our holy mothers and holy wives.
Hate among a particular set of people of both sides was all over social media, encouraging public terror and causing discomfort, and even others encouraging retaliation.
The recipe for civil war was actually on the fingertips of some people. Heads of diplomatic missions were threatened, and elegant Guyanese who were observers were heckled, humiliated, and their lives were put at risk. Following this abuse of social media, I was pleased to hear His Excellency President Dr. Irfaan Ali saying that laws governing social media would be made stiffer and with major penalties. I fully concur with this statement made by His Excellency President Dr. Irfaan Ali. Now, more than ever, I believe this is a necessity.
During the election count, we recall how one Opposition leader sent a message of lies via social media that the then-presidential candidate, Dr. Irfaan Ali, had invaded the area with dozens of armed personnel. This created a ripple effect of attacks and profound embarrassment on our country. All this happened because of the influence of social media, whereby this individual misused the platform to spew his hate.
This is why I say that social media can be both constructive and destructive.
Thank God for the positive ones that are posted about the realities, for e.g. those who post in the form of rules or readings, and who encourage all citizens to protect themselves from COVID-19 by learning to grow their own food, becoming self-sufficient, and be positive citizens of their country.
Respected editor, it would be remiss of me not to mention those dangerous mouthpieces of hate, particularly those living in the United States of America. They assume that since they are abroad, they can say what they want and provoke violence in the form of murders, assaults, shootings, beatings, rapes, burning of vehicles, robbery of paddy and personal belongings against a particular ethnic group.
This technique of using social media to create conflict, a pandemonium and a state of war must be prevented by the strong rules and laws passed in our Parliament. It has to be in such a way that if the evidence is there by which these culprits have been inciting Guyanese to riot, hurt, burn, loot, or rape any citizen of this country, then they must face the music.
We must be able to set an example to all of them by taking one or two of them into the legal channel of extradition. This might be costly, but it is a noteworthy investment. The Government should also ensure that they are blacklisted at the airport, so that as soon as they arrive in the country, we will be informed and therefore make the requisite arrests so that they face the consequences.
These violent, warlike individuals living in Guyana and overseas need to realise that what they are putting out is what they are going to get. When a person preaches hatred and induces terror, they must realise that these are the illicit gifts of nature that will revisit them.
Apart from the political pain caused by social media, bullying has become quite a scourge. Many children, young people and adults have committed suicide due to the aforementioned. It is also known that certain men have exposed sexual relations with females; holding them in shame for a lifetime. It is also known that several women have shared nasty videos of fellow women on social media. We need serious laws to mitigate all of these, and to prevent them from causing damage and injury to others.
I ask our Government to consider the points I have raised above. Let us make a move as soon as possible, so that these laws be enacted, where we will see the negative thinking and actions of these culprits be circumcised and castrated. We need people who strive to promote respect, integrity, grace, morality, compassion, and unity; not those who turn social media into a hated platform. I firmly believe that if they do not have anything positive to say, the only thing to do is to shut up and haul themselves in a corner.
Sincerely,
Roshan Khan Snr
